- country:Panama
- region:Central America
- style(s):Jazz, Salsa
- label:Ruben Blades Productions Inc
- type:Band, Solo, Composer/Songwriter, Small Ensemble, Big Band, Large Ensemble
- gender:male
- instrumentation:vocal, visual, singer songwriter, jazz combo, salsa and latin band
- artist posted by:Ruben Blades Productions Inc
Line up
- Roberto Delgado Big Band (Director, arranger, bassist)
- Rubén Blades (Singer, composer, songwriter)
Links
Latin Music icon Rubén Blades was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970s. His landmark albums in classic Afro-Cuban salsa are touched with rock, jazz, pan-Latin, and worldwide influences. Blades has collaborated with rock, jazz, pop, hip-hop, reggaeton, and salsa artists, and has composed hundreds of songs and dozens of hits, known for their eloquent, socially charged lyrics, colorful characters, and memorable melodies. His 2017 album Salsa Big Band was awarded the Latin Grammy Album of the Year, and in 2021 the Latin Recording Academy named him Person of the Year, and was awarded, again, the Latin Grammy Album of the Year and the Latin Grammy Best Salsa Album
He is the subject of the 2018 award-winning documentary Yo No Me Llamo Rubén Blades directed by Abner Benaim. He has won 12 Grammy and 10 Latin Grammy Awards, and this year he returns to star in the AMC television series Fear the Walking Dead. His role in the show has earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor Imagen Award
In 2021 Blades, with Panama’s Roberto Delgado Orchestra, released SALSWING! (Latin Grammy Best Album of the Year 2021; and Grammy Best Tropical Latin Album 2022), offering up both salsa and jazz tracks, as well as SALSA PLUS! (Latin Grammy Best Salsa Album 2021) with salsa tracks, and SWING! with jazz tracks, for genre purists.
In 2022 Blades, with the Brazilian Vocal Group ¨Boca Livre¨, released two albums, ¨Parceiros¨ and ¨Pasieros¨, a selection of Blades songs arranged with brazilian rhythms and harmonies, the former with Portuguese versions and the latter with Spanish versions.
In 2023 Ruben Blades and the Delgado Big Band will return to touring in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, with Salswing Tour!
More info:
Born July 16th, 1948 in the Republic of Panama
Blades was born in a rooming house in a small Latin American country, but he refused to see limitations or barriers; his work has crossed geopolitical borders, cultures, and genres and has made an impact throughout the world. He says he has “more past than future” – but he’s not done yet.
Education
Harvard Graduate Law School LLM Masters in International Law (1985)
Degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Panama (1974)
Awards and Distinctions
He has won 21 Grammy Awards (11 U.S. Grammy and 10 Latin Grammy).
2021 Person of the Year nomination from The Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS).
2020 Harvard Arts Medal Harvard University
2019 Dorothy Height award in honor to the civil rights leader at New York University.
2018 Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Spain
2018-2019 New York University Steinhardt Dean’s Scholar-in-Residence
2011 The Hispanic Heritage Foundation honored him with the Arts award at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
2011 The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) honored him with their Raúl Juliá HOLA Founders Award
2010 Aid for Aids honored him with the “My Hero” award for his work promoting Aids awareness
2008 The Rubén Blades Archives at Harvard University was initiated to collect his papers, work, and related materials
2008 Latin Trade Magazine honored him with the Bravo Award for the Most Innovative Leader of the Year
2007 The Latin American Tourism Confederation (COTAL) selected him as the Tourism Personality of the Year, honoring him with the Albatross Award
2006 The Chilean Government presented him with the Pablo Neruda Medal of Honor
2005 ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) honored him with the Founders Award
2003 The National Academy of Arts & Sciences (NARAS) honored him with the Heroes Award
2000 Named Ambassador Against Racism by the United Nations
He has an Honorary Doctorate in Chicano Studies, from Berkeley University (California)
He has an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Lehman College, CUNY (Bronx, New York)
He has an Honorary Doctorate of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music (Boston, Massachusetts)
Music and Film
He has recorded more than 25 albums and countless collaborations with diverse artists
He has starred in 35+ movies and as a regular in 2 television series, and guest star in 2 other series
He was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards
He won a Cable Ace Award in the Best Actor category (1989)
He won a Imagen Foundation Award in the Best Supporting Actor category by ¨Once upon a Time¨ (2004)
He is the subject of the 2018 award-winning documentary Yo No Me Llamo Rubén Blades, directed by Abner Benaim.
SALSWING TOUR!
2023 Europe dates available.